222 



THE STUDY OF INSECTS 



expands from 4 to 43 inches. The ground color of its wings is pale olive, 

 verging in some places into gray; the markings consist of patches and 

 stripes of dark, rich velvety olive, sometimes almost black (Fig. 381). 

 Near the inner margins of both pairs of wings the lighter color shades 

 out into pale yellow, which is tinged in places with delicate rose-color. 

 These markings show a harmony of contrasting shades rarely equalled 

 elsewhere by nature or art. The larva is one of the hog-caterpillars. It 

 feeds upon the leaves of Virginia-creeper. When young it is pinkish in 

 color, and has a long caudal horn; as it matures it changes to a reddish- 

 brown, and the horn shortens and curls up like a dog's tail and finally 

 disappears, leaving an eye-like tubercle. The caterpillar has on each side 

 five or six cream-colored oval spots, enveloping the spiracles. 



Fig. 382. — Celerio lineala. 



The white-lined sphinx, Celerio lineata. — This moth can be easily 

 recognized by Figure 382. Its body and fore wings are olive-brown; 

 there are three parallel white stripes along each side of the thorax; the 

 outer one of these extends forward over the eyes to the base of the palpi ; 

 on the fore wings there is a buff stripe extending from near the base of 

 the inner margin to the apex, and veins R 5 and 2d A are lined with white; 

 the hind wings are black with a central reddish band. The larva is ex- 

 tremely variable in color and markings. It feeds on many plants, among 

 which are apple, grape, plum, and currant. 



The thysbe clear-wing, Hcemorrhagia thysbe. — There is a group of 

 hawk-moths that have the middle portion of the wings transparent, re- 

 sembling in this respect the ^Egeriida? ; but 

 they are easily recognized as hawk-moths 

 by the form of the body, wings, and an- 

 tenna?. One of the more common of these 

 is the thysbe clear- wing (Fig. 383). The 

 scaled portions of the wings are of a dark 

 reddish -brown ; but this species is most 

 easily distinguished from all our other 

 species by a line of scales dividing the 

 discal cell lengthwise and representing the 

 position of the base of vein M. The larva of this species feeds on the 

 different species of Viburnum, the snow-berry, and hawthorn. 



Fig. 383. — Hcrmorrhazia thysbe. 



